1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wearable pet appliances and, more particularly, to wearable pet appliances with sanitary, protective, and restraint applications for pet birds.
2. Description of the Related Art
Humans have always kept and enjoyed animals as pets. The domestication of animals as pets entails dual responsibilities that inevitable involve the handling of excrement and protective restraint of birds. Furthermore, pet owners must protect dwellings and belongings from being soiled by pet excrement, as sanitary considerations exist.
The mobility of a domesticated animals necessitate wearable sanitary garments in many situations, especially where it is difficult to protect dwellings and belongings. A problem for female dog owners when the dog is "in heat" and subject to reproductive advances from male dogs involves the well-known unpleasant vaginal discharges that threaten dwellings and belongings. U.S. Pat. No. 2,190,115 and British Patent 943,116 disclose wearable protective sanitary harness devices for pets that aim to solve this problem.
Pet birds comprise a special class of domesticated animals whose ability to fly and walk pose unique sanitary problems. In the past, the increased degrees of freedom associated with pet birds have warranted caging them for sanitary and protective reasons. However, keeping a pet bird in a cage, while allowing for the containment of excrement, severely limits the pleasure inherent in pet ownership. U.S. Pat. No. 2,703,553 and 5,218,928 disclose wearable restraining devices that permit the uncaging of pet birds. Unfortunately, neither of these inventions further address the sanitary concerns associated with allowing pet birds to spend time uncaged, wherein excremental discharges threaten dwellings and belongings of pet owners.
Seeking to solve this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,858 discloses a sanitary appliance for pet birds that collects excrement from the vent of the bird, thereby preventing soiling of the dwellings and belongings of the owner. When worn by the bird, a triangular piece of fabric covers the vent, and is secured by tape strips along the tail and breast of the bird. Both tape strips terminate at a collar that encircles the neck of the bird, and the device incorporates snap closure means at two points.
However, given the tendency of pet birds to wriggle, writhe and peck when handled, a pet bird owner would face difficulties in actuating both snap closures to secure the sanitary appliance onto the bird. Additionally, since birds have a natural curiosity for metal devices accessible to their reach, given the strength of their beaks, it is likely they would bite off or destroy the snaps. Furthermore, the utilitarian construction obviates the constraining nature of this device, compromising the attractive plumage of the pet bird.
Another shortcoming associated with the device disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,858 involves the collar encircling the neck of the bird, to which the tape strips connect. The confinement that the collar imposes restricts the neck and the head motion of the bird. In addition, the plurality of strips securing the device increase the likelihood of self-imposed harm, should the strips entangle with or catch onto some object that the bird encounters when moving about the dwelling of the owner.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a bird diaper solving the aforementioned problems is desired.